This is how I justify owning multiple flex nibs.
.
If you don’t understand my explanation below, please feel free to ask questions in the comments—I’m not sure if I explained everything well enough.
.
It looks and feels like we’ve got some 4th degree polynomials on our hands. While higher degrees do yield a higher correlation coefficient, the trend lines also start to do funky stuff to try to get as close as they possibly can to the data points. Sorry Calc 2 fans, but this probably isn’t a Taylor Series of arcsin or tangent. (But I’ll be on Desmos soon to double check.) It is also plausible that these are actually 3rd degree polynomials, but those trend lines don’t go through the origin in a way that looks right to me. And clearly, when you apply zero grams of force to a flex nib, it’s flexing zero millimeters. (ok maybe the tines don’t touch but we can approximate here)
.
I find it really interesting that both nibs seem to have graphs that are polynomials of the same degree, despite not really behaving THAT similarly. (The Leviathan goes way farther than the wet noodle.) However, the similarity is probably because this graph is only showing what’s going on at fairly narrow widths. (I usually like to flex to about 1.25 to 2mm depending on what kind of flex writing I’m doing.) I had to stick to the narrower widths because my scale doesn’t display anything above 260 grams, plus I wasn’t really sure how to measure out widths in that range consistently. If anyone has any ideas on that, let me know.
.
So, how did I actually do this? I used some gel pens of various widths to draw some lines. (See pic #2 ) I then put that piece of paper on top of my scale, did my very best to hold my pens at a 45 degree angle, and I flexed the nibs to the widths of the lines. The value on the scale did fluctuate +/-15 grams because I’m human, so I tried to take the central value. I recorded it, threw it all in Excel, and, voilà, graphs. (Raw data sans units in pic 3)
.
Despite my crude method extremely susceptible to human error, I think I was fairly accurate, especially given the easy convergence of the trend lines.
.
Soon my dip nibs shall be tested...

Unedited photo I took of a western cottonmouth from southern Illinois in 2013. The first one I ever happened to come across was this one, with brilliant copper eyes. After that, I saw 30+ a day when I was in southern Illinois.
Often interchanged with "water moccasin," the cottonmouth only occurs in southern and western states. The northeast (specifically Pennsylvania) is not home to any despite many claims, unless someone crazy released one. Water moccasins and cottonmouths are not separate species, they are both common names of the same species. They, too, do not "attack" people, but they are venomous and it's always important to keep a good distance if you're unsure. A cottonmouth will give you fair warning that it is dangerous.
This one took an unusual route after it showed its "cotton mouth," right over my boot and into the swamp. No aggression whatsoever. I have pictures of both events that I will share.
.
.
.
.
.
#agkistrodon#piscivorous#illinois#snakesneedlovetoo#reptiles#snake#pitvipers#snakesofinstagram#stunning#venomous#wetnoodle#cottonmouth#watermoccasin#misunderstood#eye

Honestly Leibniz should’ve used a wet noodle
.
Akkerman #2 WAS its usual blue for the first few hours of being in my wet noodle, but then it turned purple spontaneously and inexplicably, (probably as a result of the Sailor Grenade that was previously in the pen) and now it’s pretty much back to being blue again but it’s got an odd hint of purple. So I probably need to do a better job of cleaning it out next time 😕
.
On the other hand this ink actually isn’t that great for a wet noodle anyway, since the pen keeps getting railroading and ink starvation issues. But the shading is good enough that I might as well put up with it.
.
Also do you guys want to see more frequent posts from me? I play with flex pretty much every day, but I always forget to make something pretty enough for insta 🤦‍♂️
.
#calculus#fundamentaltheoremofcalculus#wetnoodle#flexpen#vintageflex#vintage#fountainpen#fountainpens#fpgeeks#fpn#akkerman#waterman#calligraphy